Do not get me wrong- I am not a fanatic about Giant Bikes. I have one and I am very happy about it but I will not preach to you and say that this is the best bike around.There are probably better ones around, but all brands have their followers. I have a friend That is looking for a bike and My particular bike is an SCR3.0. This is not available in the US so a link to it is below.
Now my friend is looking for a Hybrid so I suggested he look at the FCR range. In the UK this is the SCR with straight bars instead of drops. Exactly the same frame and compoments but with straight bars. The retail of the SCR is £450- and the FCR with only the bar change is £350. Double the figures to convert sterling to $us and the SCR is $900 and the FCR is $700. What a difference for such a Minor change.
I know we are expensive over here- a lot more expensive- So I looked on the US Giant site. That same model FCR is only $480 in the US. OR is it. -Check the spec between The two Countries bikes and you have a downgraded bike compared to the UK model. Links to the two catalogues are below for the "Same" model.
I know that Americans are tight with their money but it is a long time since a saw an Altus rear mech on a bike other than in the very basic range. I suppose if they are trying to come down to a Price- then this is what Giant have to do, but I learnt many moons ago that there is a quality level that you do not go below to outfit a bike to a good standard.
So it would appear thatIf you want a good price- you buy in America- but if you are looking for quality- Pay more and come to Europe.
Little Darwin
03-09-07, 12:13 PM
The $900 to $700 difference is relatively easy to understand... have you seen the difference in cost for brifters and drop bars compared to flat bars and mountain style shifters? Throw in a little marketing since many people looking for drop bars are willing to drop more money on a bike and voila! $200 extra to go from flat bars to drop bars. :)
As far as low end components, I don't know, but it is my feeling (without any real backing) that worrying about the level of components is more of a "How much money do you have?" question than one of functionality or reliability... I don't think it was always the case, but with current lines, the low end is significantly better than earlier year's low end, and perfectly functional and reliable.
I ride a derailleur on my primary ride (Giant Sedona DX) that others in the forums blast (Alivio) and I have never missed a shift on the rear, and only when I needed tuning did I have a little trouble getting into my granny ring on front. And I spent less for my bike than some people spend for their high end brifters...
centexwoody
03-09-07, 01:08 PM
So it would appear thatIf you want a good price- you buy in America- but if you are looking for quality- Pay more and come to Europe.
It's all about the market niche(s). Evidently the entry range price in America is half that of Europe and is perhaps justified by the fact that the majority of bikes sold here are ridden a few times then end up in garage corners, curb trash collection or garage sales. This could also account for the rise in obesity in the U.S.: good intentions, inexpensive market entry investment and little carry-through on use/ intentions.
I see the same approach at my fitness club every Jan. 2nd. Lots of new memberships, flurry of activity for 2-3 weeks then back to the regulars. Why wouldn't bikes be the same? The componentry is less important than the market perception for purchase. The fitness club offers a great new membership price every New Year's knowing that 80% of the newest members will not use their membership longer than a month...
BluesDawg
03-09-07, 02:15 PM
So comparing the roughly $700 models in the FCR range, FCR-3 in GB and FCR-2 in US:
the US model has a composite fork, CroMo for GB
US has Tiagra RD, Sora for GB
US has 9 speed, GB 8 speed
A couple of other minor specs, the US has name brand vs. house brand for GB
Yes, I do see a difference in the quality at the price point.
spry
03-09-07, 02:44 PM
Plus the American models are available with gun racks and donut holders.;)
stapfam
03-09-07, 03:07 PM
So comparing the roughly $700 models in the FCR range, FCR-3 in GB and FCR-2 in US:
the US model has a composite fork, CroMo for GB
US has Tiagra RD, Sora for GB
US has 9 speed, GB 8 speed
A couple of other minor specs, the US has name brand vs. house brand for GB
Yes, I do see a difference in the quality at the price point.
Had not looked at it from that perspective- So we ARE being ripped off in the UK.
And it is not just Giant.
I ride a Cannondale MT and last time I checked, it is around $2,000 in the US. In the UK it is just over £2,000 so $4,000 US. Similar pricing on most of the bikes that I checked last year, and on the quality spares, it is around the same. I wanted a good set of lights last year and there is no way I was going to spend $1200 on a top rate set of HID lights. Finished up with a UK made LED Luxion lamp that I am pleased with at $600. The HID I wanted was around $700 in the US, I later found out. I know there is import duty and the hassle of ordering from abroad., but you do have things cheap over there.
roccobike
03-09-07, 04:52 PM
The $900 to $700 difference is relatively easy to understand... have you seen the difference in cost for brifters and drop bars compared to flat bars and mountain style shifters? Throw in a little marketing since many people looking for drop bars are willing to drop more money on a bike and voila! $200 extra to go from flat bars to drop bars.
+1 I don't know if the cost difference is justified, but brifters are way more expensive than MTB shifters. Some of the high end Shimano 10-speed stuff costs more than a low end Trek mountain bike. It's crazy, but that's a large part of the difference. I've seen the same thing here in the states. Diamondback has a road bike with flat bars and a similiar bike with Sora and drop bars. To the best of my recollection, the price difference was about $150-200. There's a reason Wally World and Dawes (low end Dawes bikes only) don't put brifters on their bikes, Co$$$t.
cs1
03-09-07, 05:05 PM
Had not looked at it from that perspective- So we ARE being ripped off in the UK.
Why do you look at it as being ripped off? The bike companies offer the consumer what they want at a price the consumer is willing to pay. Don't pay much and you don't get much. In Europe you pay far less for Campagnolo than we do here in the US.
Tim
dauphin
03-09-07, 09:27 PM
now you know why we kicked King George's redcoated ***** outta here.:D
Tom Bombadil
03-09-07, 09:49 PM
The higher pricing in the UK could be due to tariffs. Perhaps due to lower volume sales on those models. Could be due to UK LBS's needing a little more markup and Giant obliging them.
I'm sure Giant wants to be competitive and doesn't mark up the price more than they have to. If they could undercut European and UK bike prices and still make an acceptable profit, they probably would.